# 1871 in Wales

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1871 to Wales and its people.

## Incumbents

* Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey – William Owen Stanley
* Lord Lieutenant of Brecknockshire – Charles Morgan, 1st Baron Tredegar
* Lord Lieutenant of Caernarvonshire – Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn
* Lord Lieutenant of Cardiganshire – Edward Pryse
* Lord Lieutenant of Carmarthenshire – John Campbell, 2nd Earl Cawdor
* Lord Lieutenant of Denbighshire – Robert Myddelton Biddulph
* Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire – Sir Stephen Glynne, 9th Baronet
* Lord Lieutenant of Glamorgan – Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot
* Lord Lieutenant of Merionethshire – Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
* Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire – Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort
* Lord Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire – Sudeley Hanbury-Tracy, 3rd Baron Sudeley
* Lord Lieutenant of Pembrokeshire – William Edwardes, 3rd Baron Kensington
* Lord Lieutenant of Radnorshire – John Walsh, 1st Baron Ormathwaite
* Bishop of Bangor – James Colquhoun Campbell
* Bishop of Llandaff – Alfred Ollivant
* Bishop of St Asaph – Joshua Hughes
* Bishop of St Davids – Connop Thirlwall

## Events

* 24 February – In a mining accident at Pentre Colliery, Rhondda, 38 men are killed.
* 21 March – Welsh-born journalist Henry Morton Stanley sets out for Africa to seek missing Scottish explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone.
* June – Miners' strike in South Wales culminates in defeat for the union.
* 14 August – The Van Railway, built by David Davies Llandinam, opens to carry traffic from the Van lead mines to Caersws.
* 10 November – Stanley locates Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, and allegedly greets him saying "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"
* date unknown
** Lewis Jones is appointed governor of Chubut Province by the government of Argentina.
** Operations at the White Rock smelting works in Swansea are extended by Henry Hussey Vivian to include the treatment of silver and lead ore.

## Arts and literature
### Awards

* Evan Jones (Gurnos) wins a bardic chair at Ystradyfodwg.

### New books

* W. R. Ambrose – Hynafiaethau, Cofiannau a Hanes Presennol Nant Nantlle, y Traethawd Buddugol yn Eisteddfod Gadeiriol Pen-y-groes
* Robert Fowler, MD – A Complete History of the Case of the Welsh Fasting-Girl
* James Kenward – Ab Ithel
* Thomas Purnell
** Dramatists of the Present Day
** Correspondence and Works of Charles Lamb

### Music

* John Thomas (Pencerdd Gwalia) is appointed harpist to Queen Victoria.

## Sport

* Rugby union – Neath RFC is founded.

## Births

* 5 January – Percy Lloyd, Wales national rugby player (died 1959)
* 23 February – Jack Evans, Wales national rugby player (died 1924)
* 2 March – Billy Bancroft, sportsman (died 1959)
* 28 March – R. Silyn Roberts, Socialist and pacifist writer (died 1930)
* 1 April - Dai St. John, heavyweight boxer (died 1899)
* 6 April – Prince Alexander John of Wales, youngest son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (died 1871)
* 12 April – Ellis William Davies, politician (died 1939)
* 15 April – John Humphreys Davies, writer (died 1926)
* 11 May – George Howells, academic and writer (died 1955)
* 6 June – Evan Lloyd, Wales international rugby player (died 1951)
* 14 June – David Nicholl, rugby player (died 1918)
* July - Owen Jones, footballer (died 1955)
* 2 July – Sir Evan Williams, 1st Baronet, industrialist (died 1959)
* 3 July – W. H. Davies, poet (died 1940)
* 13 August – Jack Elliott, Wales international rugby player (died 1938)
* 21 September – Alfred Brice, Wales international rugby player (died 1938)
* 1 October – Sir Lewis Lougher, industrialist and politician (died 1955)
* 10 October – Thomas Gwynn Jones, poet (died 1949)
* 3 November – Owen Badger, Wales national rugby player (died 1939)
* 27 November – Robert Evans (Cybi), writer (died 1956)
* 29 November (in England) – Ruth Herbert Lewis, social reformer and collector of Welsh folk songs (died 1946)
* 1 December – Bert Dauncey, Wales international rugby player (died 1955)
* 3 December – Sir Percy Emerson Watkins, civil servant (died 1946)
* date unknown
** William Jenkins, politician (died 1944)
** Howard Passadoro, footballer (died 1921)
** Thomas Mardy Rees, historian and author (died 1953)

## Deaths

* 12 January – Richard Hughes, printer and publisher, 76/7
* 19 January – Thomas Jeremy Griffiths, minister, hymn-writer and teacher, about 75
* 30 January – Edward Howell, US politician of Welsh descent, 78
* February – Robert Roberts, musician, 30
* 9 May – Edward Morgan, minister and writer, 53
* 23 July – Arthur James Johnes, judge, 62
* 2 August – David James (Dewi o Ddyfed), writer (born 1803)
* 3 October – David Marks, musician and composer, about 83
* 6 October – Edwin Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, 59
* 2 December – Joseph Jones, Catholic priest and bard, 72